Australia take series with 51-run win

Australia secured the one-day series with two matches to spare after a comprehensive 51-run victory at the Gabba as England's batting once again flopped. The top order was rocked by the pace of Brett Lee, then John Hastings removed the key pair of Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell before the innings subsided rapidly to give Australia their first piece of silverware since March last year.

The hosts' innings had been far from problem-free but Michael Clarke registered a much-needed half-century, which was his first since the Adelaide Test. He fell to the Man of the Match Chris Woakes, who took 6 for 45, England's best overseas analysis in one-day internationals, but he was a lone shining light. Although the visitors have twice nudged 300 in the series - at Melbourne and Adelaide - there has been far too much inconsistency and soft dismissals.

Pietersen and Bell battled nicely to steady England from 3 for 22, but having been given a life on 34 when Steve Smith missed a return catch, Pietersen picked out mid-on as he tried to pull a Hastings slower ball. Eoin Morgan continued his poor series when he lofted his fourth ball to long-off against Smith, even though the required rate was below a run-a-ball. Morgan has struggled to live up to his reputation as a world-class finisher in the series after his extended period on the sidelines during the Ashes.

England's last real hope disappeared when Bell, who had been at his most fluent, dragged Hastings into his stumps. Shane Watson bagged two in his first over in front of an appreciative home crowd, who could put the troubles of the past month behind then at least for an evening. A record-last wicket stand of 53 between James Anderson and Steven Finn, on his ODI debut, only narrowed the margin and showed up the batsmen.

Australia's bowlers hunted as a unit and the one-day attack has most bases covered, even though Xavier Doherty was left out with a stiff back. Lee bowled with real venom early on, twice whistling rapid bouncers past Andrew Strauss's helmet and Doug Bollinger wasn't far behind when he struck Matt Prior in his opening over. But neither of England's openers wanted to back down and Prior responded with three boundaries against Bollinger. However, Lee was a different prospect and Prior lost his off stump when he tried to play square on the off side.

From the next delivery, the first ball of Bollinger's third over, Strauss picked out square leg with a pull and it became worse when Lee put himself on a hat-trick as Jonathan Trott flicked a delivery off his hip straight to short fine-leg. Although the hat-trick ball to Bell was a no-ball it was also a rapid bouncer and Australia were in no mood for this series to stay alive.

Even though their total proved plenty, it was a tale of missed opportunity as several batsmen made starts only to give their wickets away. Watson (16) cut to point and Brad Haddin (37) walked across his stumps to give Finn his first ODI wicket. Shaun Marsh (16) lazily flicked to midwicket and David Hussey chopped on against Woakes for 34, having set a platform alongside Clarke with a 65-run fifth-wicket stand. Cameron White couldn't do much about his dismissal as an excellent ball from Woakes bounced and took the edge.

Clarke's innings had three distinct phases. After being booed to the crease, he began with aggressive intent and moved to 17 off 13 balls, but then slowed considerably with 18 off his next 41 deliveries before driving Finn through cover. The fifty came from 70 balls but he couldn't carry on, top-edging Woakes while trying to work through the leg side on 54.

England were hampered in the closing overs when Ajmal Shahzad injured his hamstring and Johnson took 15 off his eighth over during the batting Powerplay. Smith and Hastings also cashed in as Finn was struck for 14 off his ninth but Woakes, who was preferred to Michael Yardy and struck three times in the first over of a spell, returned to have Hastings caught at deep midwicket to complete his five, after which Lee carved to third man.

Woakes' figures sit behind Collingwood's 6 for 31 against Bangladesh, at Trent Bridge in 2005, but they were a hollow success. England are now left with the task of avoiding a 6-1 scoreline to match the drubbing after the 2009 Ashes.

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Hapless New Zealand swept away again

India 107 for 2 (Parthiv 56, Yuvraj 42) beat New Zealand 103 (Styris 24, Ashwin, 3-24, Yuvraj 2-5, Nehra 2-34) by eight wickets


Only Brendon McCullum showed any intent, but Ashish Nehra nipped him out before he could inflict serious damage

New Zealand were at the receiving end of another humiliation as a hapless batting performance led to their lowest score against India and sealed a 0-5 whitewash. On a dry pitch susceptible to the influence of the overcast weather, New Zealand were keen to make the most of initially favourable batting conditions. But their edginess against pace at the start of the innings, and capitulation to spin later on, ensured their misery in ODIs continued.

The pitch offered limited assistance to the bowlers and was not responsible for the domination that India showed; New Zealand's inability to survive perhaps was. The seamers were crafty enough to make use of the hint of swing and movement available early on, the spinners, led by R Ashwin, varied their lengths, pace and worked the angles well to prove more than a handful against the middle and lower orders.

Praveen Kumar's control and Ashish Nehra's quick recovery from a Brendon McCullum onslaught in his first over set up India. Praveen earned his prize straight away, beginning with three straight-ish deliveries before getting one to nip away and prompt a fatal poke from Martin Guptill. Nehra had a contrasting start, struggling for line and length, dragging one short to be dispatched over square leg and providing width to be slammed through the off side for two boundaries. McCullum's aggressive posture, characterized by his advances down the wicket as well as moving well across to look for scoring opportunities, promised an entertaining counterattack. It caused his downfall instead, as he shuffled across to Nehra and was done in by the inswing to be caught on the pads, leaving New Zealand 14 for 2.

Smart stats
This is the second time India have won an ODI series 5-0. The only previous instance was against England in 2008-09, when a seven-match series was curtailed to five due to the terrorist attack in Mumbai. India won each of those five games.
For New Zealand, it was their fourth 5-0 drubbing in a five-match series. Three of those four series defeats have happened since 2003.
New Zealand's total of 103 is their lowest in a completed innings against India. It's their second-lowest in India - they'd scored six runs fewer against Australia in Faridabad in 2003.
India won with 173 balls to spare, which is their fourth-highest in all ODIs and their best against New Zealand. For the visitors too, it's the fourth-heaviest defeat in terms of balls remaining.
Over the five-match series, Indian batsmen averaged 56.95 runs per wicket, at a strike rate of 94.05 runs per 100 balls, and scored four hundreds. New Zealand averaged 24.38 at a strike rate of 80.43, and didn't manage a single hundred.
Ashish Nehra became the 11th Indian bowler to take 150 ODI wickets.
The pitch largely behaved itself for the duration of the innings and the Indian bowlers, for their part, provided reasonable opportunities to ease the pressure. Ross Taylor looked confident, piercing the field with some delicious drives past mid-off, but his stay ended with an instinctive attempt at a pull against Nehra, and the ball scraped the glove on the way to Parthiv Patel. Jamie How appeared on course to lend some respectability to what's been a miserable series with some lovely flicks off his pads and Scott Styris seemed determined to get the innings back on track, but the steadiness that they had painstakingly brought to the innings was obliterated by spin.

The slow bowlers were expected to play a prominent role as the day wore on and it didn't take long for Yuvraj Singh to step into the act. In the 17th over, after having built a stand of 43 with Styris, How tried to play across the line and was bowled as the ball straightened. Styris misread the length and played the sweep, almost as an afterthought, against Ashwin in the next over to be caught plumb. And Grant Elliott, included in the line-up to strengthen the batting, made no impact, failing to read the straighter one from Yuvraj to be lbw.

Three wickets in three overs, and the departure of Daniel Vettori to a catch at slip not long after indicated New Zealand were in a hurry to finish the game even before the weather, overcast and ominous, was given a chance to intervene. Sure enough, Kyle Mills' inability to read Ashwin's carrom ball and Tim Southee's gifting a catch to short leg marked a sorry end to a line-up that bats deep.

The early wickets of the in-form Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli were the only consolation as New Zealand succumbed to a 0-5 battering, with their World Cup preparations in disarray following a bitter experience in two recent assignments in the subcontinent. India, for their part, have been boosted by the successful return of Yusuf Pathan and the consistency of Ashwin, while consecutive fifties from Parthiv Patel have further spiced up the selection race for the World Cup.

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